Okay … time for round two.

As you know, last month I underwent cataract surgery to remove and replace a clouded lens in my right eye. The healing process seemed to work out well …

But now it’s time to operate on my left eye. There’s a cataract in there as well.

And now, all the nerves and worries are back.

By all accounts, my right eye seems to have healed nicely, and my long distance vision is nearly 20/20. For close-up work – such as reading a computer screen – I am relying on a pair of $20 pharmacy-rack magnifying glasses. After my left eye surgery, then I’ll consider getting a new set of progressive bifocal lenses for all-over close-up and distance vision.

But yeah … it’s time to add eye drops again. This time, for my left eye, in preparation for surgery on Monday.

And I know people have said to me, “Chuck, you should be able to breeze through your left eye surgery, you’ve gotten over the right eye, the hard part is over, right?”

Um … you DO know that eye surgery is eye surgery, right? A nd just because everything went well the first time, doesn’t mean we can regress to complacency. The same concerns and worries are there as were before. The possibility of infection. A possible misalignment of the replacement toric lens. The need for follow-up surgery if things don’t go well.

Trust me. This is my left eye, I’ll definnitely need some TLC for this.

Oaky, that’s NOT what I meant … I gotta adjust that “mention a song and WordPress finds a YouTube video for it” widget…

And I need my eyesight in BOTH eyes. And I need it quickly. How am I going to do color commentary on the upcoming Albany Patroons basketball season if I have poor eyesight? Should I blindfold myself and tell everybody i”m doing “Bird Box” commentary? And after that joke falls flat, then what?

Yeah. It’s when the nerves kick in again. It happens, and there’s really not much you can do about it. Except meditate, pray, have good counsel with friends and family, and just be ready for Monday.

So this weekend, I’ll do what I did the last time. Stock the fridge with quick-make dinners. See if there’s comfort programs on Netflix.

And through it all… just remind myself that if I can get my eyesight back to a normal, manageable level after this cataract surgery…